It's about time ...

   For me to get started with the plants I want to set out at the end of
March . Last year and the year before I tried those peat disc things (wet
'em and they expand into a little barrel shape) with absolutely dismal
results . This year I'm going to try something different , using potting
soil or starter mix .
  I have a decent plastic tray but I need to divide it into compartments . I
was considering shoebox-type  cardboard , or maybe some plexiglass strips .
Or I could just go buy some small plastic cups and put holes in the bottom
for drainage .
  How do y'all start your sets ? I'll be doing tomatoes , peppers ,
marigolds , and maybe some zucchini and cantalopes . I usually do the stuff
with bigger seeds directly to the ground ...
--
Snag
And this yeear I'll be
proactively treating for
borers and other pests .
<<DE>>

 

These are what I usually use for starting seeds.  I start seeds in the
72 cell ones and then transplant into the 36 cell ones.  Right now I
have 5 of the 72 cell ones almost full.  I need to check my supply of
36s.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?pE511&cat=2,44713,40757
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

 The Cook wrote:

  Those are really nice trays , but I'm looking for a cheaper alternative .
The clear plastic cups that sell for like a buck a hundred are more where
I'm looking . Cardboard and plex I already have , just need to cut it into
strips and notch it for interlocks .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

 

I consider these to be a reasonable value.  I bought these in Jan 2007
and have used them every year since -- this is beginning my 6th year.
I paid $15.50 for 3 of the 32 cell ones and $14.50 for the 72 cell
ones.  I figure that over the past 5 years they have they have cost me
$1 per tray per year.  I have 6 of each size.  They are still in good
shape and I don't have to fiddle with setting them up.

Right now I am using 312 of small the cells to start plants.  Then
they will go into the 32 cell trays as they get larger.  And that is
just the beginning of the year.  As I move things to the larger trays
I then reuse the smaller ones.  It is going to take about 4 or 5 of
the 32 cell trays to transplant my 72 seedling beets.  Each seed
produces anywhere from 1 to 4 plants.  With care I can separate them
and get 150+ plants from my 72 seeds.

I start most of my plants in the greenhouse so I know how many plants
I have without having to replant except for weather and critters.
Either of those are possible regardless of how the plants are started.
I do direct sow beans and corn but not much else.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

 
The nifty trays that The Cook posted a link to are heavy duty,
expected to last several seasons.  Unless you're overpaying, the
standard 10.5 x 21" 72-cell starter trays are in the sub-dollar range
(IIRC, about $0.79 or thereabouts at the local farm supply, and I'm in
the San Francsico region where everything costs more as a rule).  They
handily have a matching size water tray and dome (additional
purchases, but reuseable - moreso than the germination trays
themselves).  I splurge on the more rigid water trays, not the light
duty ones - they'll last much longer, and that means you get your
moneys worth out of them.

I make a written "cheat sheet" to identify what I planted where in the
trays - put a tray ID stake in the "home cell" (upper left corner),
and ID the columns as A-L, and rows as 1-6.  i might plant the same
variety of something in A-C, then just 2 cells of something else
(D1-2), etc.  I've also madea more graphical chart (cells for each of
the cells in the tray), but that was too much repetition of writing,
though was handy for noting different germination dates.


Yea, I did that as dividers for a set of wooden seeding trays I made
(with weed barrier fabric and hardware cloth underneath).  A neighbour
constructed a 3-car detached garage, and I glommed onto the cardboard
sheets which were used to separate the individual panels of the
segmented rolling doors - nice flat undecorated pieces of corrugated
cardboard.  if you need a supply, consider contacting a local garage
door installer.  MUCH nicer than messing around with breaking down
cardboard boxes of varying thicknesses and dimensions.  When zipping
them across the tablesaw, bear in mind that cardboard is tougher on
the blade than oak...

I save TP and paper towel rolls, and cut them to length equal to half
of a TP roll (paper towel rolls = 5).  These I arrange into the above
mentioned seeding tray, then fill up with soil.  See following:

http://www.professional.org/snaps/index.html?dirname=gardening/20110326a/
http://www.professional.org/snaps/index.html?dirname=gardening/20110326b/

Aviary screen frame above the germination box so they don't get raided
by birds:
http://www.professional.org/snaps/index.html?dirname=gardening/20110327/

The bean seedlings were transplanted into the garden just 4-5 weeks
after I seeded them in the tray.


I don't have the nifty ribbed trays like "The Cook", but I have about
_400_ of the circular plug trays (got them for free from a local
premium olive oil producer - they'd stacked a lot of them and they
stuck together, and when time is money, the effort to separate them
was more than they were worth - but I only need < 10 per season, and
know that chilling them will separate them easily enough).